My Lightning burned to the ground

[hturnerfamily]

Two notes:

A) the first thing I did when I received my LIGHTNING PRO SR back in August of '22, was to print out the 'HVB Fire department DISABLEMENT instructions' and provide them to my Firefighter SON and his local fire authorities...
although, this would not have helped in this 'total fire engulfed' scenario...

many years ago, I witnessed the aftermath of a newer F150 burned to the ground, where the only recognizable items left were the frame and the puddles of aluminum wheels - also the same for the 35' camper it was connected to - AND the same for the owner's house it was 'plugged into'...
interestingly, as to the insurance claim, the truck had been borrowed from his cousin. Oh my.

Insurers paid a total-loss for the home. Another for the Camper. and yes, another, the 'cousin's', for the truck.

B )as an insurance agent, and while on a Motorhome trip from Georgia to MN, across into Manitoba, while coming out of AngleInlet MN back into Manitoba, we lost our tow car due to an odd accident. A passing double-dump semi hit something I the road, throwing it under our '14 Ford Fiesta, hitting the exposed gear-linkage, throwing the car into reverse. This caused the car's transmission to then turn the engine, at high speed, but without any coolant or oil flow. Within seconds the engine exploded, sending shrapnel up thru the hood, and also creating such high temperatures, billowing smoke.
While driving the diesel pusher 35'+ in front of all of this, the only feedback I had was a slight 'tug' of the motorhome, then a few seconds later, another...and then smoke in the rear monitor video feed.

Because one of the witnesses had 'seen' fire, or what they THOUGHT might have been a fire, the Canadian FIRE MARSHALL called me several days later to 'discuss' this fire, although there had not been one. They do this to combat arson, as you can imagine.

My insurance company paid a full total-loss and sent me a check. That's what insurance is for: accidents.

We went on to ALASKA without it...

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[21st Century Truck]

Current thread title is sufficient until we know more.

IMHO, folks running with the OHMMU 12v Li battery should think twice before continuing to run with it.

I actually had really weird recent malfunctions with my Ohmmu battery, after three months of service. On a trip to Kentucky this January, I checked the Ohmmu-supplied Ancel battery monitor dongle and to my alarm it gave a 12V battery voltage reading of 4.3 Volts (yes, that does read "4.3 Volts"). This was while rolling full speed on I-66.

I pulled off at the next interchange and got an OEM Lightning battery at the nearby Ford dealer.

No point in arguing warranty with Ohmmu IMHO as the best possible outcome would have been another, replacement Ohmmu battery. I just decided to eat my Ohmmu expense and move on in my life.

The OP's story here makes me feel, er, "lucky".

Having been inside the dash of my Lightning for some speaker amp-related work I agree with other posters here that the initial "pop" felt by the OP might well have been in the 12V battery location, which is really very close to the center of the lower dash of the front cabin, as car bodies are known to project noises via sometimes strange pathways through their trim cavities.

So, I agree with Taxman's suggestion above.

 

[OB121]

I also have been running the Ohmmu for for about the last 3 months and have been having low voltage hibernation sleep symptoms in this cold for the last month so I replaced it with a new AGM EV Diehard a week ago. Won't be putting that back in.

 

[fhteagle]

I'm in the middle of credit card disputing this obviously fraudulent, defective, not fit for advertised purpose Ohmmu piece of crap.

Glad OP is safe. I really hope Ohmmu does not harm someone else who does not have the same sense to get out immediately...

 

[mr.Magoo]

I hope @b.go comes back and tells us what happened after the event but I totally understand why he wouldn't. There's a lot of speculation in this thread.

I would be surprised if there's anything left of the truck to enable them to determine what happened.

Sure, it started in the front, middle or back, but say it started in the front - how do you determine if it was one of the front HVB modules or the 12V battery when most of the suff there have vaporized.

It would be interesting to see a picture of what it looked like once the fire was put out.

 

[Gimme_my_MME]

I would be surprised if there's anything left of the truck to enable them to determine what happened.

Sure, it started in the front, middle or back, but say it started in the front - how do you determine if it was one of the front HVB modules or the 12V battery when most of the suff there have vaporized.

It would be interesting to see a picture of what it looked like once the fire was put out.

I think you are underestimating the skill of fire investigators

 

[mr.Magoo]

I think you are underestimating the skill of fire investigators

More like overestimating the amount of heat produced by a lithium fire.
I don't doubt the skills of fire investigators for a second.

 

[Maxx]

I have been keeping a Noco lithium Ion jumper fully charged in my frunk. We don’t know what caused this fire but if it was 12V battery, that makes me a little uneasy about keeping the jumper in the car now. Have you guys heard any stories about those things exploding on their own? I have a traditional jumper cable in the truck as well but Lithium Ion has come in hands several times in helping others.

 

[Maquis]

Remember, he reported that the first indication that something was wrong was he heard a loud pop under his feet. That would tend to implicated the HVB, not the 12VB.

 

[RickLightning]

Keep in mind Ford would have a record of any codes thrown before incineration.

 

[Maxx]

Remember, he reported that the first indication that something was wrong was he heard a loud pop under his feet. That would tend to implicated the HVB, not the 12VB.

I am thinking 12V fire wouldn’t heat up the HVB to start a chain reaction as fast as this fire seem to have spread.

 

[TaxmanHog]

It would be interesting to see the telemetry from Ford's point of view.

@b.go do you use a bluetooth ODB2 and car scanner with logging turned on?

 

[bellyer]

Looking back at the issues the OP had with his truck, he replace the battery with a Ohmmu and he was also apparently having 12v battery issue (the beeps changed) and issue with climate control through the APP.

I think I read about some issue with the Ohmmu batteries recently.

12V batteries and the 12v system has been the cause of many a vehicle fire over the years - not long ago a Ranger caught fire down the street from my daughter and son-in-law's house due to a shot circuit, and there have been other electrical issue that resulting in fires and fire risk:

Improper Starter Cable Attachment: 2020-2021 F-150s may have a faulty nut connecting the positive battery cable (B+) to the starter motor, causing electrical arcing and heat.

Battery Junction Box Defect: A defect in the battery junction box can lead to spontaneous fires in 2021-2022 Expedition and Navigator SUVs.

Engine Block Heater Failure: Over 100,000 vehicles, including 2013–2019 Escape, Focus, and Lincoln MKC, were recalled for engine block heaters that can crack, leak coolant, and cause a short circuit.

Stuck Starter: Low battery voltage can cause the solenoid to stick, keeping the starter engaged, which can lead to overheating and fire

So the OPs fire could be/probably is, unrelated to it being an EV.

The pop/bang noise he heard could easily have been a short in the 12v system cause the 12v battery to basically explode due to thermal runaway.

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Lately, the beeps in my '23 Lightning have sounded different... why?

This has been happening to me as well, and my 12V is only two month old. It's an Ohmmu that wasn't exactly cheap.
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Issues with climate control via the app

This has been ticking me off for the last few weeks. It's freezing cold out and I can't remote start the heat. My 12V battery is two-months old.
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Issues with climate control via the app

Even when my truck is plugged in at home it doesn't work lately. I have to go out and open and close the drivers side door first. Then it beeps at me and fires up the heat. So odd.
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So here's the weird thing. I also have a 2023 Lariat ER that I am the original owner of and took possession of it in Nov. 2022. My truck has had all of those same issues with the beeps sounding different and the remote climate control and departure times not working. I did send a message to the EAP folks at Ford a couple of days ago asking if they could look into whether any recent updates could have been causing my issues, but now I'm wondering if I need to worry about my truck going up in flames. I have not replaced my 12v, though.

 

[Basis0439]

Yeah, concerningly, I have a '23 ER as well and was the OP of the "weird sounding beeps" that the OP here posted in.

My truck charges in my garage below my child's bedroom, so needless to say, I am very anxious and attentive to any development here.

 

[bellyer]

Yeah, concerningly, I have a '23 ER as well and was the OP of the "weird sounding beeps" that the OP here posted in.

My truck charges in my garage below my child's bedroom, so needless to say, I am very anxious and attentive to any development here.

Yeah, I think this is a situation where I am maybe a little less anxious about the situation due to the fact that my garage is detached from my house and my truck can't fit inside the garage anyway, so I have to charge it outside the garage (though a fully engulfed truck while charging would certainly take my garage (and the Mach-E parked inside the garage) along with it if it did happen to ever catch fire while charging (acknowledging that the Lightning catching fire is not something that any of us should generally worry about due to it being an extreme rarity).

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